Rating: 
Summary: WUI (of Bushmills)?
Review: Thin and utterly unrealistic plot, poorly written - definitely expected more. Unnecessary detours, constant repetitions and not just the annoying references to Bushmills and unleavened bread - was somebody paid by the word? To consumers: Save your money. To the editors: Did anybody read this before publication?
Rating: 
Summary: Another Higgins Hack Job: Midnight Runner
Review: When I read a Jack Higgins novel these days, it is with a certain kind of sadness. Gone are the complex plots, intriguing characters, and story twists that marked so much of his earlier work. Now, he seems to have become nothing more that a word hack, cranking out a weak novel every year. At the same time, I keep reading them hoping to see flashes of past brilliance. Unfortunately, Mr. Higgins continues the recent tradition in his writing where the good guys do evil (at times) for the right cause and the bad guys are misguided and do evil for the wrong cause.In this case, the lovely Kate Rashid leads the evil forces that plan to destroy the world, as we know it. The novel follows up on the situation at the end of his last novel, Edge Of Danger, where her three brothers were dead at the hands of the good guys leaving Kate Rashid vowing vengeance. As Countess of Loch Dhu, Kate Rashid controls the vast holdings of the Rashid Empire. Like the last book, the flow of oil to the United States and England is her weapon to topple governments. But, she also seeks to inflict personal pain on Sean Dillon, Blake Johnson, General Charles Ferguson and the others she holds personally responsible for the deaths of her brothers. As she assembles her supporters and pawns, so too does General Ferguson assemble his pawns and supporters. Soon, all the usual suspects are in play and a plot that could be sketched on the back of a bar napkin is underway. This novel continues in the recent tradition of Jack Higgins. The writing is weak, the character development is exceedingly limited, the style is poor and the scenic descriptions are poor. The sameness of his recent novels continues and the reader is left with the sense that this has been read before, many times. It is unfortunate that he continues in the slide from the promise of his early novels to a writing style and effort that just seems to be going through the motions for a few sales. This author has talent and expertise that he simply is not using, for whatever reason, and that is a shame. It may be time to forget this author and move on because like many a great athlete that pushes past his prime, he simply does not have it anymore and that is a shame.
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